Christianity, sexuality and citizenship in Africa: critical intersections

Citizenship in sub-Saharan Africa has undergone profound changes in recent decades as part of wider social and political dynamics. One notable development is the emergence of Christianity, especially in its Pentecostal-Charismatic forms, as a public religion. Christian actors, beliefs and practices...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Citizenship studies 2018-08, Vol.22 (6), p.557-568
Main Authors: van Klinken, Adriaan, Obadare, Ebenezer
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic disciplines
Africa
Case studies
Christianity
Citizenship
Decolonization
Gender identity
Heterosexuality
LGBTQ people
Narratives
Nation building
National identity
Nationalism
Pentecostalism
Pentecostals
Political development
Political systems
Public sphere
Religion
Religion & politics
Religious leaders
Sexuality
Social dynamics
Social systems
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Citizenship in sub-Saharan Africa has undergone profound changes in recent decades as part of wider social and political dynamics. One notable development is the emergence of Christianity, especially in its Pentecostal-Charismatic forms, as a public religion. Christian actors, beliefs and practices have increasingly come to manifest themselves in the public sphere, actively engage with politics, define narratives of nationhood and shape notions of citizenship. A second major development is the emergence of sexuality as a critical site of citizenship and nationhood in postcolonial Africa. On the one hand, many political and religious leaders are invested in a popular ideology of the heterosexual family as the basis of nation-building, while on the other hand, LGBT communities are becoming more visible and claim recognition from the state. The contributions to this special issue engage these two contrasting developments, examining the interconnections between Christianity, sexuality and citizenship empirically and theoretically through case studies in various African contexts and from several academic disciplines and critical perspectives.
ISSN:1362-1025
1469-3593
DOI:10.1080/13621025.2018.1494900